Friction

About a year ago, my dad was on a tirade about something (it runs in the family a little bit), he was trying to do something fairly common from his phone. If memory serves, he was trying to send a spreadsheet he got as attachment to another person. He bemoaned how unintuitive and complex this process was, the language around the interactions in the UI being unclear and the lack of assurances that spreadsheet had been sent.

He’s almost 68. It’s not uncommon for him to be frustrated with technology and the new demands it presents to him.

The next thing he said has stuck with me ever since. He said (a little exacerbated, but clear nonetheless), “There’s just too much…” He paused and motioned his arms as if to entice the word he was searching for to appear. “…too much…friction in this whole thing. I guess that’s what you’d call it, friction. Why can’t this damn thing be any easier?”

I like the way he put that.